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CAA now available to cyclists

Cyclists who have memberships in the Canadian Automobile Association now have roadside assistance available when they're on two wheels as well as four.
(TARA WALTON / TORONTO STAR) | Order this photo

By Tess KalinowskiTransportation Reporter

Mon., May 31, 2010

In one more sign that drivers also ride bikes and many cyclists have a driver’s licence, the Canadian Automobile Association’s South Central Ontario branch is now offering roadside assistance for the cyclists among its 1.8 million motoring members.

“It just expands on our service to our members,” said CAA spokeswoman Faye Lyons. “Our members are motorists, transit users, cyclists and pedestrians. We want to be Canada’s leading organization for all road users. That includes cyclists.”

Modeled on a CAA program in British Columbia, Bike Assist will offer on-the-spot repairs to cyclists anywhere in the organization’s coverage area. They’ll even transport the cyclist and wheels home within 10 kilometres for those with a basic membership, up to 200 kilometres for those with a plus membership and 320 kilometres for premium members.

The program does not, however, include fixing flats, although that could happen in the future.

Since the program launched in May, the CAA has responded to only six cyclists in need of roadside service.

Bike Assist has been in the works for about a year, including training service staff and equipping trucks with the appropriate tools, said Lyons.

The association has also deployed its own Bike Squad to Toronto area charity and community events to assist with cars and bikes at summer events. Equipped with a battery-powered pump, the squad will change a car tire if the driver has a spare and a jack. If needed they will call for a tow truck, said Lyons.

Lyons doesn’t have figures on how many CAA members also cycle, but there’s significant crossover in Toronto, said the chair of the city’s Cycling Committee.

About 72 per cent of motorists in Toronto now use a bike at least once or twice a week, said City Councillor Adrian Heaps (Scarborough Southwest).

A 2009 poll commissioned by the city shows that the number of cyclists earning $100,000 or more annually more than doubled, from about 13 per cent in 1999 to 30 per cent last year.

The same survey shows that cyclists who bike for practical purposes, such as going to work or shopping, are more likely to be car owners now than they were 10 years ago.

Fifty-six per cent of utilitarian cyclists have unlimited access to a car, as do 79 per cent of recreational cyclists.

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